Friedel-Crafts alkylation deactivated compounds

Route A works fine. Toluene is readily nitrated, and the methyl group is an ortho/para director. The only problem is that both the desired compound and its ortho-isomer are produced and must be separated. (This is a common problem, and we usually assume that the separation can be accomplished, although it is not always easy in the laboratory.) Route B is unsatisfactory because the Friedel-Crafts alkylation reaction does not work with deactivated compounds such as nitrobenzene. Furthermore, even if the alkylation could be made to go, the nitro group is a meta director, so the desired product would not be formed. 

The third case shows the immobilisation of Lewis-acidic ionic liquids. The resulting catalysts, named Novel Lewis-Acidic Catalysts (NLACs), are highly active in the Friedel-Crafts alkylation of aromatic compounds with dodecene. Conversions and selectivities to the desired monoalkylated products were excellent. No leaching of the catalytically active component could be observed. The isomer distribution of the monoalkyated products is very similar to that obtained over pure aluminum(III)chloride. The main drawback of the NLACs is that thy are very sensitive towards water, which leads to irreversible deactivation. A second problem is the deactivation after long reaction times. The most likely cause is olefin oligomerisation. 

Carbonium ions can be generated at a variety of oxidation levels. The alkyl carbocation can be generated from alkyl halides by reaction with a Lewis acid (RCl + AICI3) or by protonation of alcohols or alkenes. The reaction of an alkyl halide and aluminium trichloride with an aromatic ring is known as the Friedel-Crafts alkylation. The order of stability of a carbocation is tertiary > secondary > primary. Since many alkylation processes are slower than rearrangements, a secondary or tertiary carbocation may be formed before aromatic substitution occurs. Alkylation of benzene with 1-chloropropane in the presence of aluminium trichloride at 35 °C for 5 hours gave a 2 3 mixture of n- and isopropylbenzene (Scheme 4.5). Since the alkylbenzenes such as toluene and the xylenes (dimethylbenzenes) are more electron rich than benzene itself, it is difficult to prevent polysubsiitution and consequently mixtures of polyalkylated benzenes may be obtained. On the other hand, nitro compounds are sufficiently deactivated for the reaction to be unsuccessful. 

Strongly deactivated aromatic rings do not undergo Friedel-Crafts alkylation or acylation (Section 12.16). Friedel-Crafts alkylations and acylations fail when applied to compounds of the following type, where EWG is a strongly electron-withdrawing group ... 

Pyridine lies near one extreme in being far less reactive than benzene toward substitution by electrophilic reagents. In this respect it resembles strongly deactivated aromatic compounds such as nitrobenzene. It is incapable of being acylated or alkylated under Friedel-Crafts conditions, but can be sulfonated at high temperature. Electrophilic substitution in pyridine, when it does occur, takes place at C-3. 

Friedel-Crafts type reactions of strongly deactivated arenes have been the subject of several recent studies indicating involvement of superelectrophilic intermediates. Numerous electrophilic aromatic substitution reactions only work with activated or electron-rich arenes, such as phenols, alkylated arenes, or aryl ethers.5 Since these reactions involve weak electrophiles, aromatic compounds such as benzene, chlorobenzene, or nitrobenzene, either do not react, or give only low yields of products. For example, electrophilic alkylthioalkylation generally works well only with phenolic substrates.6 This can be understood by considering the resonance stabilization of the involved thioalkylcarbenium ion and the delocalization of the electrophilic center (eq 4). With the use of excess Fewis acid, however, the electrophilic reactivity of the alkylthiocarbenium ion can be... 

Both alkyl aryl ketones and diaryl ketones can be synthesized using the Friedel-Crafts reaction. However, the method is hmited. Aromatic compounds that have strongly deactivating groups, such as NO2, or carbonyl groups, such as aldehydes, ketones, acids, and esters, do not react. 

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